Automatic trolley retriever for electric tramcars



A. Bowan. Aurommc mmm summa ron mmm mums. APPLICATION FILED IMY IIB.1922. lgfggu Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.'

A. BOWEN.

AUTOMATIC APPLICATlUN FILED MAY 1B. 1922.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER FOR ELECTRIC TRAMCARS.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

vif;

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFREDO BOWEN, OF $A-NTIAGO, CHILE.

AUTOMATIC TROLLEY RETRIEVER FOB ELECTRIC TRAMCARS.

Application tiled Mav 18,

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known lthat l, Ammiano Bowen, a lcitizen 'of the Republic ofChile, residing at Santiago, Republic of Chile, have inventedImprovements in Automatic Trolley Bctrievers for Electric Tramcars, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic electric tramcar trolley retrieversof the type in which a normally supported weight is released by theupward jerk on the trolley cord when the trolley leaves the cable andthen overcomes the act-ion ot' the trolley springs and draws down thetrolley pole thus obviating damage to the overhead gear.

According to the presentinvention the retriever comprises a body orweight mounted to slide up and down on a bar or other suitable guide, adrum carried by the body and having wound on it the trolley cord. aspring tending to rotate the drum so :is to wind up said cord a catchnormally engaging the body with the upper part of the guide and meanscarried by the drum and adapted, when the latter is quickly rotated bythe unwinding of ithe cord. to be thrown outwards by centrifugal forceand to disengage the catch from the guide, the catch then preventingfurther rotation ot' the drum so that the body or weight slidingdownwards along the guide draws down the trolley.

Such a retriever may be constructed in various ways.

Referring `to the accompanying drawings:

F igs. l and EZ are respectively side and end elevations to a smallscale oi a retriever Vfitted to a tramcar.

Fig. 3 is a plan oi the retriever;

Fig. i an elevation with parts broken away;

Fig.

y 5 a section on the line A A Fig. 4; Fig.

6 a section on the line B B Fig. 5;

Fig. T is a detail sectional plan of a guide bar supporting bracket.

In this construction, the body or weight is in the form of a box 10 witha removable front cover 11, the cavity being circular as to its lowerpart but extended in an upward direction, as seen clearly in Fig. 6; thedrum 12 is mounted on a stud 13 projecting from the back of the box 10and coaxial with the circular part of the cavity. A. coiled spring 14contained in the drum 1Q connects it to the stud 13, and the trolleycord 15 is led through a hole in the top of the borL and other, thebrackets 1522. Serial N0. 561,945.

wound on the drum. the arrangement being such that the spring 14maintains the trolley cord in tension whilst permittingrisc and fall ot1the trolley pole, due to variations in the height of the trolley cableso long as the box is held at the upper art of guide bar 1S by a springcatch 1G. w'iich is pivoted in the 'upper part oi the box 10. engaging agroove or recess 1T in the side ol.: the guide bur 18 mounted at the endof the tramcar. The box l0 is formed with clasps or eyes through whichthe guide bar extends and the guide bar lil ixed to the ends of brackets19 attached to the mud guards ot .the car; to enable the retriever to bemoved trom one end ot' the car to the '19 are formed with button ends 19(see Fig. 7) and the guide bur with corresponding button hole slots 18,movement of the bar being prevented by a spring catch Q() carried by oneol' the brackets overlapping the end of the bar. Through the catch 20 isscrewed a piu 2i which can be caused to enter holes in the braclret tohold the catch in its operative or inoperative position. The drum isformed at its inner end with a disc Q2 having 'say three projections 23on its rear tace which are bored radially to receive freely movableplungers 24; above the plungers is :pivoted the catch 16 which projectsthrough an opening in the back of the box, a helical spring 25 aroundits pivot pressing it against the guide bar 1S. The head oi each plungeris formed with a projecting flange 24. 2G is a lifting cord attached tothe box l0.

lVhen the traincar is in movement. the

retriever should be placed on the higher part of the guide Vbar 1S andheld iu this position by the catch 16 iitting into the groove or recess.17 on the guide bar. llVhen, for any reason, the trolley wheel 27 (Figs.1 and 2) leaves the cable. the cord l5 is jerked violently upwards,causing the drum 12 to revolve at a high velocity and consequently.owing to cci'itriiugal force. the plungers Q4 try to move outwards butare restrained so long as they are opposed to the circular Wall of thebox but when they arrive at the upper eccentric hollow, they moveupwards and strike against the catch 16. rPhe catch is consequentlypushed sideways and comes out oi' the groove or recess 17 in the guidebar and` as there remains nothing to hohl the retriever in its originalill)

